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A few more options were put on the table but school officials took no formal action to reduce an approximately $600,000 budget deficit Wednesday night.<BR><BR>The school board’s budget and finance committee opted against making specific recommendations - although they approved procedural moves that leave open the possibility of dramatic reductions in teaching staff - while they sort through reams of data and await even further information.<BR><BR>On April 18, the board will hold a special session with Chuck Speiker, a Minnesota Department of Education official who is set to address specifics related to statutory operating debt.

The joint garage project is set to move forward again after the Ely council turned down requests to pursue an environmental assessment.<BR><BR>On a 6-0 vote with member Mike Hillman absent, the council denied a petition brought by more than 25 area residents, including former mayor Frank Salerno.<BR><BR>The council released a 12-page finding, backed by 250 pages of exhibits assembled by attorney Larry Klun, dismissing petitioners’ claims that the garage created environmental hazards and was incompatible with the adjacent city cemetery, and rejecting appeals to authorize an environmental assessment worksheet.<BR><BR>Among the conclusions were: “There is nothing related to the project or its planned development which would trigger a requirement to file an EAW.

Included in this week’s newspaper is the Ely Echo’s 12th annual Progress Edition.<BR><BR>More than 40 area businesses and entities, some new, many that have made significant changes during the past 12 months, are profiled via reports and/or photographs in two special Progress sections.<BR><BR>This week’s paper is one of the largest editions in the publication’s nearly 35-year history.<BR><BR>Also included in the edition is a “Business Honor Roll,” a listing of dozens of local businesses and the year they came into existence.<BR><BR>Since 1995, the Echo has released a Progress Edition each spring. Reports have ranged from 16-to-24 pages, depending upon the amount of activity on the area business front.

At least one city official is questioning the value of a technology initiative that would bring fiber connections to every home and business in Ely.<BR><BR>A report on the Fiber to the Premise project, a venture involving more than a dozen Iron Range cities and patterned after a similar program in Utah, prompted both discussion and division at Tuesday’s city council study session, with council member Mike Hillman voicing skepticism over the project and city investment that could range from as little as $700,000 to as much as $3 million.<BR><BR>But while Hillman raised doubts about potential benefits for city residents, both mayor Roger Skraba and council member Chuck Novak - who has represented the city on a committee formed by the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board - say the project is important for further economic development.<BR><BR>“I’m not ready to close the door on going after jobs,” said Skraba.<BR><BR>Novak said tha

It may have been the late Toivo Lofberg who first reported seeing the strange creature on the Lucky Boy Trail behind Ely Bloomenson Hospital. Toivo skied and hiked the Lucky Boy for several decades and knew every turn in the trail. But he had a secret.<BR><BR>Once, when were having coffee, he confided that “there is something out on the Lucky Boy.” <BR><BR>“What do you mean?”<BR><BR>“I don’t talk about it much because people will think I’m crazy,” he said. “But twice when I was on the trail I met this hairy figure that looked something like a man only larger. It didn’t threaten me and it didn’t make an sound. It just stood there staring at me: then it vanished into the forest.”<BR><BR>What Toivo saw came to mind this past week when several people reported sighting a large, man-like, hairy creature shuffling though the snow. One witness, Richard Sade, claims he was driving slowly down Route 169 on January 26, about 4:30 a.m.

Three contenders for the soon-to-be vacant provost position at Vermilion Community College have been invited to return to campus for public forums later this month.<BR><BR>A field of about 40 applicants was whittled to approximately a half-dozen by a 12-member screening committee, which conducted interviews on campus in mid-March.<BR><BR>Scheduled to come back for second visits are:<BR><BR>• Jean Bailey, dean of academic services at Montcalm Community College of Sidney, Mich.;<BR><BR>• David Gabrielson, provost at Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Fergus Falls;<BR><BR>• Mary Koski, the dean of academic and student services at the MSCTC campus in Wadena.<BR><BR>All three are scheduled to participate in open forums, as well as meetings with community leaders, April 12-13. <BR><BR>Koski’s open forum is set for 9:30 a.m. April 12, with Bailey to follow at 1:30 p.m. the same day.

The Ely Echo will mark another year of growth and change on the area’s business front with its 12th annual Progress Edition, to be included in the April 8 issue.<BR><BR>Dozens of area businesses, some new, many that have made significant changes during the past 12 months, will be profiled via reports and/or photographs in the special Progress sections.<BR><BR>Other major components of the edition include updates on local economic development efforts and housing initiatives, and a “Business Honor Roll,” a listing of local businesses and the year they came into existence.<BR><BR>Since 1995, the Echo has released a Progress Edition.

Two guys. Twelve dogs. One sled. Four days. What would you do if you had all these? <BR><BR>For Jake Hway of Ely and Blake Edwards of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the answer was simple: cross the Quetico Provincial Park and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, from Atikokan, Ontario back to Ely, Minnesota. And so they did. <BR><BR>The two men work for the Boy Scouts of America through the Northern Tier High Adventure bases in Atikokan and Ely. Anticipating the close of the winter Okpik program in early March, Edwards and Hway had planned a dogsled trip of their own, while the winter travel conditions would still be good. <BR><BR>After driving to Atikokan last Wednesday, Hway and Edwards embarked on their journey, spending their first night on McKenzie Lake under a canopy of stars with temperatures near zero degrees Fahrenheit.

The Minnesota Senate put the finishing touches on a $990 million bonding bill that brings a chunk of change back to Ely.<BR><BR>Over $2 million has been designated for three Ely projects, including $700,000 for the joint public works facility and $950,000 for the Mesabi Trail connection from Bear-head State Park to Ely. <BR><BR>The $400,000 that Vermilion Community College has been looking for to purchase the Northern Terrace trailer park is included in an appropriation to acquire property for the Minnesota State College and University system.<BR><BR>“We did get the $700,000 for the public works garage and for Vermilion Community College we appropriated money to MNSCU,” said Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook). “Even through it doesn’t mention Vermilion by name, the amount will allow MNSCU to buy the land.”<BR><BR> The $950,000 is a grant to the St.

Windows of more than 60 cars, businesses and homes in Ely were damaged Sunday night during a pellet shooting spree that resulted in the arrests of two local men.<BR><BR>Elyites Daniel Jauhola and Nicholas Wight, both 19, have been charged with three felony counts each - two counts of first-degree criminal damage to property and a single count of drive-by shooting.